We took a drive to Point Vicente today, as we often do. There is a pathway there, where we take our dog for a walk. As usual, we take a lot of pictures of the area. The photo below shows the coastline looking northward. Beyond the two coves below in the distance you can see Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains through the haze. Click on the image to enlarge.

I love early spring when all the bulbs in the garden start to produce flowers. I especially like my hyacinths like this purple one that is currently in bloom in the garden. Click on the image to enlarge.

When the winter months roll around, you see a lot of flowers that are tolerant of the winter weather in California. We don’t have harsh weather along the coastline, but the nights are noticeably colder, often getting into the low 40’s.

A popular annual we see planted in flowerbeds is the Icelandic Poppy. I recently purchased some for the planters on our front porch. This bright yellow one bloomed just yesterday. I took this picture this morning, just when it was facing almost directly at the sun.

Click on the image to enlarge.

More from Wikipedia:

The Iceland Poppy is a boreal flowering plant. Native to subpolar regions of northern Europe and North America, Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, 1-foot, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches long.

Diaz Lake is located in the Owens Valley, California, It has the distinction of having recently been formed as the result of a large earthquake. Click on the panoramic thumbnail for the full-sized version.

From Wikipedia:

Diaz Lake is located just south of Lone Pine, California, United States in Owens Valley. The lake was formed by the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake when 18 mi (29 km) of the Owens Valley dropped approximately 20 feet (6 m) and a new spring opened, causing water to fill the lowland.

The lake was named for the Diaz family who established a ranch here when brother Rafael and Eleuterio Diaz emigrated from Chile in the 1860’s. They owned and operated a successful cattle ranch until the land was sold to the city of Los Angeles.

Year-round fishing is available, and the “Diaz Lake Fish Derby” is held the first Saturday in March.

Some families in our neighborhood plant ground cover in areas around their homes, like flowerbeds and parkways. One home about a quarter mile from our place uses ice plant, a common ground cover shrub in California, to decorate the parkway next to the curb on one side of their corner lot. Today, it seemed like the whole parkway was alive with colors from orange and yellow flowers.

Click on the image to enlarge.

There is a turn-out along Palos Verdes Drive South where there is parking and access to the beach for fishermen and hikers. We pulled in to the lot and waited until a flock of pelicans passed by. I got several pictures including this one after several birds flew past the access.

Click on the image to enlarge.

We often discuss the topic of parenting, or the lack of it these days. We look around our neighborhood and see a mixed bag of the products of modern parenting. Some families seem to have their act together, with well-disciplined and polite children and teens. Others, most of them in fact, are rude, inconsiderate and irresponsible. I have no idea whether they are ‘victims’ of California public education or not, but the schooling here doesn’t help matters any.

We like it when we’re at the range and see gun-owning parents teaching their children about guns and shooting them. Occasionally, we see a group of scouts and their mentors at the range. That’s a good thing too. Learning about shooting and guns is a much better investment than developing a skill set only suitable for X-Games like skateboarding down a stair rail or something.

I saw this cute poster on a forum yesterday and it got me thinking how parents and schools are letting kids down these days.

Click on the poster for a larger view.

While most of the east is enjoying the biggest blizzards in 90 years (so much for that global warming crap), we had a gentle rain last night which this Christmas cactus seemed to enjoy. Click on Damsel’s image to enlarge.